That honor [of being the most shocking of all ADHD meds adverts] belonged to one of Shire’s first Adderall XR ads in June 2002. In it, a mother was shown horsing around with her equally playful son. The headline read: “Thanks to ADDERALL XR, David’s mom is learning a whole new language.” That language included phrases like, “I’m Proud of You,” “Good job on your homework!” “Let’s play a game,” and “Thanks for taking out the garbage.” Adderall XR suddenly wasn’t a medicine just for an ADHD child. It was for his mother, too, to make her child less of a pain, to provide her parental satisfaction of a job well done. Thirty years after Ritalin’s ads said that the drug “helps the problem child become lovable again,” the theme had returned—with the garbage taken out, no less.